Originally founded by Tony Hammond in 1965 Australian Opal Distributors was one of Australias leading opal suppliers. In 1981 after the retirement of Tony Hammond, Karen Lindley whod been working as general manager of AOD since 1975, took over the company and became the first qualified gemmologist and woman to market opal wholesale.

In the mid-eighties AOD, whose principle markets had been Japan and USA, sought new markets and began opening pathways into Bangkok – the coloured stone centre of the world. Within a year opal sales in Thailand had exceeded all expectations. Consequently, Karen was a founding member of SEDRO  Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Ruby and Opal  a marketing conglomerate guided by the indefatigable Mr Ho. The good times continued into the nineties until political unrest and turmoil befell Thailand and AOD withdrew, returning to its traditional markets and with an annual foray to Europe and an occasional exhibition in Korea.

The decision for AOD to become a Sydney based outlet from 1999 was driven by high fuel prices, increasing mining demands and a downturn in the popularity of the worlds most beautiful gem, coupled with a desire to travel less.

Today AOD has an impressive range of unset Black Opal stones just waiting for the right buyer, a buyer with a discerning eye who recognises the beauty, rarity and value of the Queen of gems.